WWE Live, Genting Arena, Birmingham - review
The global superstars of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) arrived in Birmingham and not only wowed the Genting Arena crowds themselves, but provided a grand stage on which local heroes could shine.
Wolverhampton's Trent Seven, Netherton's Tyler Bate and Birmingham duo Pete Dunne and Dan Maloney joined the wrestlers from WWE's Smackdown Live brand to put on a three-hour extravaganza of sports entertainment.
And it was the West Midlands quartet - joined by fellow Brits Joseph Connors and James Drake - who put on one of the matches of the night, with Seven securing the pin fall victory for his team.
Although the crowd appeared a little lower than WWE's last visit at the end of 2016, the fans inside the Genting Arena were well into the action - with all the signs and chants you would see on their weekly television shows.
In fact, the young fan sitting in front of me brought a sign for almost every wrestler on the card - some with LEDs on them - huge respect to the effort put in there!
It certainly helped build the atmosphere by getting the night off to a bang with legendary Japanese wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura displaying all his charisma and stylish in-ring brutality (as well as his extremely catchy theme song) against the arrogant heel Dolph Ziggler.
Although there is little storyline progression, these are the feuds witnessed on Smackdown Live each week and the Nakamura-Ziggler match felt extra special considering they are holding off showing it on television until WWE's Backlash pay-per-view at the end of the month.
There were many highlights during the night - the six-woman tag team match was a blast and featured Charlotte Flair (daughter of the incomparable Ric), bearded beasts Luke Harper and Erick Rowan collided, while Randy Orton and AJ Styles added their star power to a triple threat main event for the WWE Championship.
But the match of the night belonged to Canadian duo Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, with Owens not only providing entertainment in the ring, but on the microphone as well.
Owens - the bad guy, who it's tough not to applaud he's so good - may have escaped with his United States Championship, but Zayn provided the pre-interval cheers by sending his rival scurrying with his devastating Helluva Kick.
If you missed the action last night, never fear, WWE is back at the Genting Arena in November for another action-packed night. And I for one cannot wait.
